Bad experience with sound-room.com

nouou

nouou

Well-known member
I purchased an oktava mk012 off this site because I saw people on this site referencing it. After purchasing they tell me thanks blah blach and it will be included in their next shipment. I send them an email asking for a tracking number. Two days pass, no response. I send them a second email, and get nothing until today. Here is our emails:

>>>>>>>>
date Feb 12, 2009 12:41 PM
Reese,

Thank you very much for your order.

Your microphone will be included in our next shipment from Moscow and we expect to be shipping to you within a week.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks

Paul & Ben
The Sound Room
www.sound-room.com

>>>>>>
date Feb 17, 2009 2:07 PM
Hi,

I am wondering what the status is and if possible a tracking number.


>>>>>>
date Feb 19, 2009 11:38 AM
Hi Reese,
Our shipment was delayed and I am hoping to have more black Oktavas by the end of the month. We have silver hypercardioid MK012 mics in stock if you want one instead of black.


All the best,
Paul

The Sound Room
P.O. Box 423
Mahwah, NJ 07430
T: 201-529-0128 F: 201-529-0129
www.sound-room.com

>>>>>>>>>



I didn't include the first email I sent them asking them for a tracking number, so it took them five days to get back to me, and when they do they tell me that the shipment was delayed (without a reason) and that they won't recieve that shipment until the end of February... I'm pretty unsatisfied w/ these guys atm...



 
Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but the only 5-day delay I see is between their 'thanks' email and your request for a tracking number. They can't give you a tracking number until your mic has been picked up in NJ by Fedex / UPS / whoever, and they can't ship your mic until they get their their delayed shipment from Russia, which they have no control over.
 
I didn't include the first email I sent them asking them for a tracking number
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Even if they can't give me a tracking number, them saying that instead of completely ignoring me would have been better.
 
you're complaining about a 1 week delay enough that you're posting on a forum..
when the guy explains there was a delay in his shipment, lets you know
he can get out a silver one immediately if you need it..

gives you all his contact info right there ...


Im just in awe with you guys sometimes.
This is HARDLY worth posting and complaing about in a forum.
 
Rippie said:
you're complaining about a 1 week delay enough that you're posting on a forum..
when the guy explains there was a delay in his shipment, lets you know
he can get out a silver one immediately if you need it..

gives you all his contact info right there ...


Im just in awe with you guys sometimes.
This is HARDLY worth posting and complaing about in a forum.
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Next time I'll PM you my prospective thread asking for your permission lolz

But I posted this here incase anyone was thinking about buying from that site... they might like to know information about things like this. Don't get your panties in a twist, or briefs in a bunch.
 
Hmm... running a business is hard... it's not like a walmart full of generic crap... it's a niche product that comes from an unusual place... I think it's worth having a little more understanding of the issues.

I respect everyone's ability to express opinions, for better or worse... and I expect that even posts like these WILL have a positive impact on customer service issues in the future (for example... this could have been avoided by posting the availability/back-order issue on the payment page)...

So... whatever... but yeah, I do feel sorry for small companies that have to try and give continuously flawless service to avoid a public blemish... it's not THAT big of a deal this time. You can find several posts from people that had some shipping concern or some random issue with a new mic or windscreen... and Paul has always been really conscious of providing exceptional service.
 
Be patient...it's worth the wait.

Be patient...it's worth the wait.

I've had excellent experience with them thru the years. Having to wait a week or longer is no big deal. Especially since your getting the real deal from Russia and not a cheap imitation/ knock off from China. Just think if that would of happened. That is why so many people recommend them, because of all the fake MK's in the market that claim they are from Russia. No need to :crybaby: over an excellent microphone, that is being shipped to you half way around the world. Things like this takes time...and you have to expect 5-7 working days for any shipment to arrive. I'm sure if they had it in stock, you will get your tracking information more promptly. When you get the Mk...i'm sure you will be more than satisfied and all this frustration will pass.
 
nouou said:
I purchased an oktava mk012 off this site because I saw people on this site referencing it. After purchasing they tell me thanks blah blach and it will be included in their next shipment. I send them an email asking for a tracking number.
Click to expand...

You know it's sort of obvious that you weren't paying much attention. Maybe if you listened more some of that Bla bla bla would have made you realize what is fairly obvious from the above. YOUR mic will be in THEIR next shipment. That would be the shipment from Russia. You obviously didn't get this because you asked for a tracking number for an item that hadn't shipped. It's fairly understandable that someone would read that as you wanting a tracking number after the item is shipped, makes sense and requires no response. So you for some reason though that THEIR next shipment meant YOUR shipment and are getting worked up because you didn't listen.

Take a breath realize you misunderstood and maybe they should have worked harder at making sure you understood but it's kind of obvious from the above clip so....
 
nounou/Reese,
Please accept my apology for not meeting your expectations.

I hope you can understand that we are dealing with a product from Russia. It's not as easy as ordering other products from a local distributor here which is only 2 days shipping to our location. Russia is at least a week shipping. Plus, I cannot order just a single microphone from Oktava and have it shipped here.

So if we run out, I generally have to wait until a sufficient order is put together. Without going into details of our operation, what you should understand is that it can sometimes take a couple of weeks to get product here in the USA. Though sometimes it works out that we have stock when an order is placed. Plus, it's needless to say that doing business with Russia is not exactly like doing business with an American company.

I thank you for switching your order to a silver mic. I can offer you this: use (don't abuse) the silver mic for a few weeks. When our next shipment arrives with the black mics, I'll contact you. If at that time you still want a black one, you can ship your silver mic back to me at my expense, and I'll send you our a brand new black one. Let me know if that's acceptable to you.

I appreciate everyone's comments here and thank you for your business. The Sound Room is an extremely small operation (me and my brother) and it is me that runs all of the day to day operations. In addition to an economy that has all but evaporated retail businesses (and many other businesses in general) it's also been a difficult year personally. Because of this I am certain that I have missed an email or two, or have been delayed by a day or two in my responses. Ultimately there's no excuse for that level of service and I am sorry.

I pride myself in the service we provide and it pains me to know I've dropped the ball in Reese's case. I will look into a way to keep track of inventory on the site and have something switch on if we are out of stock... this will take some time though as web design is not my strong suit, but I will see if there's a way to do this.

We do appreciate the business and will certainly try harder this coming year to provide better service.

All the best,
-Paul
 
The Sound Room said:
Silver mic. I can offer you this: use (don't abuse) the silver mic for a few weeks. When our next shipment arrives with the black mics, I'll contact you. If at that time you still want a black one, you can ship your silver mic back to me at my expense, and I'll send you our a brand new black one. Let me know if that's acceptable to you. ...

We do appreciate the business and will certainly try harder this coming year to provide better service.

All the best,
-Paul
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IMHO you're doing too much. I realize you're now kind of forced to make an above and beyond gesture by the grievance being posted here, but you had already offered to accommodate him another way and I'm sure you would have refunded him at any point.

The Sound Room is not Amazon.com and the mics are a specialty item shipped from Russia.

Like most of the small vendors here we can't always expect the same get it yesterday service as you can from Amazon or B&H, but, as Paul has exemplified, you can get 10 X's the customer service and willingness to make it right.

The only suggestion I could make is that you might post on your website that there can be a delay in shipping sometimes due to the nature of your business and the special nature of the products ... oh wait, you already did that :)

from the website:
"Please note that matched pairs of Oktava microphones and capsules, and some other items are special ordered and can sometimes take between 2 to 3 weeks for delivery. We try to keep many of the products below in stock, however the specialized nature of our business and product demand from our clients makes this a challenge sometimes.
...."
 
Hello Sound Room Folks;
I received the same message that my mic would be delayed a week. Sure enough it was delivered with no problem with a little note that said the wooden case would soon follow. I have no reason to believe it will not. Thus far very pleased. The email response is a little slow or non existent though for reasons I do not fully understand. I will ask the question however to see if you can jump in here Paul with a response. Thanks much.

I would like to purchase a phantom power box to use with my Octava and then connect it up to my G2 wireless so I do not have to use a wired connection to my camera. Can I do this? and will this create any interference from the microphone? Thanks in advance.
 
nouou said:
Next time I'll PM you my prospective thread asking for your permission lolz..... Don't get your panties in a twist, or briefs in a bunch.
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Kinda unnecessary....


--------

I gotta say, also... sorry, but I think a little premature, and perhaps over the top with your original posting.

Disappointing that your mic wasn't going to be there when you expected...? Sure. You were given the info you needed though, were offered a silver one in its place, and I'm sure if you wished to cancel your order based on the back order (had you asked) that would have been an option.

Nothing personal, and no offense intended... just my two cents in response...

Certainly a good thing to post user experiences with companies to inform the members. But, also a good idea to temper what we post, especially since people generally only post when there is a problem, and not to say how splendidly an experience went.

Later,
Jason
 
Jason Ramsey said:
But, also a good idea to temper what we post, especially since people generally only post when there is a problem, and not to say how splendidly an experience went.
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I can start with that :)

A few years back I ordered the MK from Paul and was extremely impressed with his level of service. What really got me was a hand-written "Thank you" note included in the box. Really personalized the transaction for me. The OP really need to calm down before posting next time.
 
I want to jump in and commend Paul for speaking up so quickly and addressing the OP's unnecessary complaint. First, if the OP had done a search here at all, I'm sure s/he would have noticed nothing but good things being said about sound-room. I've had great success with my orders from them.

If there were more businesses like Paul's - showing care and over and above the call of duty customer service and support - I'd be willing to bet there'd be far less companies going out of business right now.

I'm not sure if it's possible, but if the OP can, s/he should modify the thread title. You did not have a bad experience with sound-room - you actually received far better customer service than you would have received from any one else.
 
sounds like sound-room.com is a place where you can buy with confidence! maybe patience was missing here ? surely there are customers and other types of "customers" which I refer to as patients which is where the word patience starts making sense......

lastly my fav. universal law: good cheap fast/ pick any two
 
Jokerswild said:
Hello Sound Room Folks;
I received the same message that my mic would be delayed a week. Sure enough it was delivered with no problem with a little note that said the wooden case would soon follow. I have no reason to believe it will not. Thus far very pleased. The email response is a little slow or non existent though for reasons I do not fully understand. I will ask the question however to see if you can jump in here Paul with a response. Thanks much.

I would like to purchase a phantom power box to use with my Octava and then connect it up to my G2 wireless so I do not have to use a wired connection to my camera. Can I do this? and will this create any interference from the microphone? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

BUMP....Can anyone answer this wireless/phantom power, Octava question? Thanks. I really appreciate it.
 
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